KZ European Championship preview: shuffled deck, almost impossible to predict

Here we go: this weekend in Genk the first of two rounds that will decide the KZ European title is scheduled, the only FIA karting category that fields drivers well into their twenties, often multiple-time champions. It’s worth stressing this because the peak of a sport is made up of athletes at the highest level, and only in KZ does contemporary karting put that level of professionals on track: while in the other classes we can talk about “rising stars of motorsport,” here we are talking about “karting stars,” which we really like.

Having overcome the tyre supply crisis — from this year Lecont will be used from the start — the numerous technical updates and the various chassis-engine reshuffles following the new corporate setups at some major teams are a clear reason for interest.

 

 

The 2026 European edition has the task of quickly making people forget the previous one, which was affected by a tyre problem in the first round that led to the extraordinary decision, after lengthy technical evaluations with Dunlop engineers themselves, to change the single-tyre supplier mid-championship (after two of three rounds), switching to Lecont as several drivers had already requested from the first round, for safety reasons even before performance ones. In Mulsen the Sodi duo deservedly took the titles in both KZ2 (well deserved and dominated by Orlov) and KZ with Spirgel (deserved, although helped by Hiltbrand’s bad luck — after Sarno he looked like the presumptive winner and in Germany he suffered an unfortunate retirement for technical reasons) in a round in which several teams decided not to race with no chance to fight for the title after a first and second round heavily skewed by tyre performance.

 

The preparation races held mainly in Italy within the WSK highlighted once again that Sodi is probably the team to beat, with reigning World Champion Senna Van Walstijn and the very strong Orlov, who this year will be in KZ. The well-tested package, as many in the paddock have said, could give Sodi a small advantage — not an obvious technical superiority but the favorable condition of arriving at events with more kilometres in the bank for the driver-vehicle-team combination. As Antonio Renda points out, one of the expected protagonists since his team will run LKE engines, “but it’s a season of reshuffles between teams, chassis and engines that opens the door to many possibilities. Drudi left TM, several chassis brands have changed engines, it’s not at all easy to make predictions in a year of revolution and reshuffling. In the Italian Championship we raced with Vega and here we will race with Lecont, so it’s quite an unknown. In KZ2 it might be a bit simpler because the fast drivers have already shown themselves: all the Sodi drivers, then surely Noah Wolfe, Civico, Goldstein, there are many who will fight for the title. In KZ1 the unknowns are many, especially regarding the engines and how strong they will be in this slightly different scenario, immediately or not. Add that Genk is very different from the tracks where we raced in WSK and the Italian series. In the first races this year thanks to Lecont we also set the track record at Lonato and, as far as I remember, Genk is not a high-grip circuit. Many unknowns, the challenge is wide open and we hope to reinsert ourselves into the fight because we left some unfinished business with bad luck.”

 

Against the backdrop of widespread technical changes, the continuity of the Gustavsson-Galiffa package at CRG could prove to be a trump card for the Italian manufacturer, which is positioning itself as one of the main contenders both for this two-round European Championship and for the World Championship. The World Championship at Le Mans in September — where CRG and Viktor Gustavsson already claimed victory in 2022 — remains the primary target, one that would allow CRG to celebrate a perfect 40th Anniversary.
“We have many drivers in KZ2,” CRG Team Manager Iglesias explained to us, “and several tuners working under the same tent. This year, demand for the Rookie class World Championship has really been remarkable. As for the introduction of the anti-launch system in KZ, I’m very curious to see what will happen at the first corner here in Genk. It’s likely that, with a system that gives drivers greater confidence not to ‘bog down’ at the start, we’ll see more aggressive moves at the limit, especially from the more hot-headed KZ2 drivers. We’ll have to wait and see.”

 

Anti-launch: weight issues for some?
The new anti-launch system, much talked about and that many drivers accept without being enthusiastic, will also debut in races in gearbox categories; it also adds weight to drivers who are already close to the minimum weight limit, although weight isn’t the only element under discussion. “I’ll say up front that safety is a priority, I don’t want to be misunderstood — Travisanutto told us — but honestly I think this system will increase aggressiveness in races a lot and so we will see more door-to-door contact: perhaps a paradox if you think about it, introduced to make races safer, it could increase the number of contacts. But rules are rules and we will adapt to this new feature. On the technical side I think many of us in KZ1 will be able to fight. Maybe Sodi are slightly advantaged because they have a very strong and well-tested package, but we won’t make it easy for them. Lecont has shown that you can go very fast even if in the WSK not all categories used Lecont, so we didn’t test under the exact same conditions we will have at the race in Belgium: we’ll see in Genk what the grip will be like, considering that predominantly Lecont tyres will be on track (with the sole exception of the Academy Junior present on track, which runs with Vega).”

Weekend schedule

Friday 22 May
09:00 – 13:25 Free practice
14:25 – 15:46 Qualifying practice
16:45 – 17:40 Qualifying heats (KZ2)

Saturday 23 May
10:40 – 17:55 Qualifying heats


Sunday 24 May
09:50 – 11:55 Super Heat
12:30 Driver presentation
13:20 Academy Trophy Junior Final
14:20 KZ2 Final
15:20 KZ Final